Project Gutenberg's Character Writings of the 17th Century, by Various
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Title: Character Writings of the 17th Century
Author: Various
Release Date: January 13, 2004 [EBook #10699]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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CHARACTER WRITINGS
OF THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
EDITED BY
HENRY MORLEY, LL.D.
EMERITUS PROFESSOR COLLEGE, LONDON
1891
CONTENTS.
OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATU RE UNIVERSITY
CHARACTER WRITING BEFORE THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
THEOPHRASTUS.
Stupidity
THOMAS HARMAN'S "Caveat for Cursitors"
A Ruffler
BEN JONSON'S "Every Man out of his Humour" and "Cynthia's Revels"
A Traveller The True Critic. The Character of the Persons in "Every Man out of his Humour"
CHARACTER WRITINGS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Sir THOMAS OVERBURY
A Good Woman A Very Woman Her Next Part A Dissembler A Courtier A Golden Ass A Flatterer An Ignorant Glory-Hunter A Timist An Amorist An Affected Traveller A Wise Man A Noble Spirit An Old Man A Country Gentleman A Fine Gentleman An Elder Brother A Braggadocio Welshman A Pedant A Serving-Man An Host An Ostler The True Character of a Dunce A Good Wife A Melancholy Man A Sailor A Soldier A Tailor A Puritan A Mere Common Lawyer A Mere Scholar A Tinker An Apparitor An Almanac-Maker A Hypocrite A Chambermaid A Precisian An Inns of Court Man A Mere Fellow of a House
A Worthy Commander in the Wars A Vainglorious Coward in Command A Pirate An Ordinary Fence A Puny Clerk A Footman A Noble and Retired Housekeeper An Intruder into Favour A Fair and Happy Milkmaid An Arrant Horse-Courser A Roaring Boy A Drunken Dutchman resident in England A Phantastique: An Improvident Young Gallant A Button-Maker of Amsterdam A Distaster of the Time A Mere Fellow of a House A Mere Pettifogger An Ingrosser of Corn A Devilish Usurer A Waterman A Reverend Judge A Virtuous Widow An Ordinary Widow A Quack-Salver A Canting Rogue A French Cook A Sexton A Jesuit An Excellent Actor A Franklin A Rhymer A Covetous Man The Proud Man A Prison A Prisoner A Creditor A Sergeant His Yeoman A Common Cruel Jailer What a Character is The Character of a Happy Life An Essay on Valour
JOSEPH HALL
HIS SATIRES-- A Domestic Chaplain The Witless Gallant
HIS CHARACTERS OF VIRTUES AND VICES I.Virtues-- Character of the Wise Man Of an Honest Man Of the Faithful Man
Of the Humble Man Of a Valiant Man Of a Patient Man Of the True Friend Of the Truly Noble Of the Good Magistrate Of the Penitent The Happy Man II.Vices-- Character of the Hypocrite Of the Busybody Of the Superstitious Of the Profane Of the Malcontent Of the Inconstant Of the Flatterer Of the Slothful Of the Covetous Of the Vainglorious Of the Presumptuous Of the Distrustful Of the Ambitious Of the Unthrift Of the Envious
JOHN STEPHENS
JOHN EARLE
MICROCOSMOGRAPHY---- A Child A Young Raw Preacher A Grave Divine A Mere Dull Physician An Alderman A Discontented Man An Antiquary A Younger Brother A Mere Formal Man A Church-Papist A Self-Conceited Man A Too Idly Reserved Man A Tavern A Shark A Carrier A Young Man An Old College Butler An Upstart Country Knight An Idle Gallant A Constable A Downright Scholar A Plain Country Fellow A Player A Detractor
A Young Gentleman of the University A Weak Man A Tobacco-Seller A Pot Poet A Plausible Man A Bowl-Alley The World's Wise Man A Surgeon A Contemplative Man A She Precise Hypocrite A Sceptic in Religion An Attorney A Partial Man A Trumpeter A Vulgar-Spirited Man A Plodding Student Paul's Walk A Cook A Bold Forward Man A Baker A Pretender to Learning A Herald The Common Singing-Men in Cathedral Churches A Shopkeeper A Blunt Man A Handsome Hostess A Critic A Sergeant or Catchpole A University Dun A Staid Man A Modest Man A Mere Empty Wit A Drunkard A Prison A Serving-Man An Insolent Man Acquaintance A Mere Complimental Man A Poor Fiddler A Meddling Man A Good Old Man A Flatterer A High-Spirited Man A Mere Gull Citizen A Lascivious Man A Rash Man An Affected Man A Profane Man A Coward A Sordid Rich Man A Mere Great Man A Poor Man An Ordinary Honest Man
A Suspicious or Jealous Man
NICHOLAS BRETON
CHARACTERS UPON ESSAYS, MORAL AND DIVINE Wisdom Learning Knowledge Practice Patience Love Peace War Valour Resolution Honour Truth Time Death Faith Fear
THE GOOD AND THE BAD. A Worthy King An Unworthy King A Worthy Queen A Worthy Prince An Unworthy Prince A Worthy Privy Councillor An Unworthy Councillor A Nobleman An Unnoble Man A Worthy Bishop An Unworthy Bishop A Worthy Judge An Unworthy Judge A Worthy Knight An Unworthy Knight A Worthy Gentleman An Unworthy Gentleman A Worthy Lawyer An Unworthy Lawyer A Worthy Soldier An Untrained Soldier A Worthy Physician An Unworthy Physician A Worthy Merchant An Unworthy Merchant A Good Man An Atheist or Most Bad Man A Wise Man A Fool An Honest Man.
A Knave An Usurer A Beggar A Virgin A Wanton Woman A Quiet Woman An Unquiet Woman A Good Wife An Effeminate Fool A Parasite A Drunkard A Coward An Honest Poor Man A Just Man A Repentant Sinner A Reprobate An Old Man A Young Man A Holy Man
GEOFFREY MINSHULL
ESSAYS AND CHARACTERS OF A PRISON AND PRISONERS A Character of a Prisoner
HENRY PARROTT [?]
A Scold A Good Wife
MICROLOGIA, by R. M.
A Player
WHIMZIES, OR A NEW CAST OF CHARACTERS
A Corranto-Coiner
JOHN MILTON
On the University Carrier
WYE SALTONSTALL
PICTURÆ LOQUENTES, OR PICTURES DRAWN FORTH IN CHARACTERS The Term
DONALD LUPTON
LONDON AND COUNTRY CARBONADOED AND QUARTERED INTO SEVERAL CHARACTERS The Horse
CHARACTERS PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1642 AND 1646, BY SIR FRANCIS WORTLEY, T. FORD, AND OTHERS
T. Ford's Character of Pamphlets
JOHN CLEVELAND
The Character of a Country Committee-Man, with the Earmark of a Sequestrator The Character of a Diurnal-Maker The Character of a London Diurnal
CHARACTERS PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1647 AND 1665
RICHARD FLECKNOE
FIFTY-FIVE ENIGMATICAL CHARACTERS The Valiant Man
CHARACTERS PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1673 AND 1689
SAMUEL BUTLER
CHARACTERS-- Degenerate Noble, or One that is Proud of his Birth A Huffing Courtier A Court Beggar A Bumpkin or Country Squire An Antiquary A Proud Man A Small Poet A Philosopher A Melancholy Man A Curious Man A Herald A Virtuoso An Intelligencer A Quibbler A Time-Server A Prater A Disputant A Projector A Complimenter A Cheat A Tedious Man A Pretender A Newsmonger A Modern Critic A Busy Man A Pedant A Hunter An Affected Man A Medicine-Taker The Miser A Swearer The Luxurious An Ungrateful Man A Squire of Dames An Hypocrite An Opinionater A Choleric Man A Superstitious Man A Droll
The Obstinate Man A Zealot The Overdoer The Rash Man The Affected or Formal A Flatterer A Prodigal The Inconstant A Glutton A Ribald A Modern Politician A Modern Statesman A Duke of Bucks A Fantastic An Haranguer A Ranter An Amorist An Astrologer A Lawyer An Epigrammatist A Fanatic A Proselyte A Clown A Wooer An Impudent Man An Imitator A Sot A Juggler A Romance-Writer A Libeller A Factious Member A Play-Writer A Mountebank A Wittol A Litigious Man A Humourist A Leader of a Faction A Debauched Man The Seditious Man The Rude Man A Rabble A Knight of the Post An Undeserving Favourite A Malicious Man A Knave
CHARACTER WRITING AFTER THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Character of the Happy Warrior
CHARACTER WRITINGS
OF THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Character writing, as a distinct form of Literature, had its origin more than two thousand years ago in the [Greek: aethichoi Chadaaedes]---Ethic Characters--of Tyrtamus of Lesbos, a disciple of Plato, who gave him for his eloquence the name of Divine Speaker--Theophrastus. Aristotle left him his library and all his MSS., and named him his successor in the schools of the Lyceum. Nicomachus, the son of Aristotle, was among his pupils. He followed in the steps of Aristotle. Diogenes Laertius ascribed to Theophrastus two hundred and twenty books. He founded, by a History of Plants, the science of Botany; and he is now best known by the little contribution to Moral Philosophy, in which he gave twenty-eight short chapters to concise description of twenty-eight differing qualities in men. The description in each chapter was not of a man, but of a quality. The method of Theophrastus, as Casaubon said, was between the philosophical and the poetical. He described a quality, but he described it by personification, and his aim was the amending of men's manners. The twenty-eight chapters that have come down to us are probably no more than a fragment of a larger work. They describe vices, and not all of them. Another part, now lost, may have described the virtues. In a short proem the writer speaks of himself as ninety-nine years old. Probably those two nines were only a poetical suggestion of long experience from which these pictures of the constituents of human life and action had been drawn. He had wondered, he said, before he thought of writing such a book, at the diversities of manners among Greeks all born under one sky and trained alike. For many years he had considered and compared the ways of men; he had lived to be ninety-nine. Our children may be the better for a knowledge of our w ays of daily life, that they may grow into the best. Observe and see whether I describe them rightly. I will begin, he says, with Dissimulation. I will first define the vice, and then describe the quality and manners of the man who dissembles. After that I will endeavour to describe also the other qualities of mind, each in its kind. Then follow the Characters of these twenty-eight qualities: Dissimulation, Adulation, G arrulity, Rusticity, Blandishment, Senselessness, Loquacity, Newsmongering, Impudence, Sordid Parsimony, Impurity, Ill-timed Approach, Inept Sedulity, Stupidity, Contumacy, Superstition, Querulousness, Distrust, Dirtiness, Tediousness, Sordid or Frivolous Desire for Praise, Illiberality, Ostentation, Pride, Timidity, Oligarchy, or the vehement desire for honour, without greed for money, Insolence, and Evil Speaking. One of these Characters may serve as an example of their method, and show their place in the ancestry of Characters as they were written in England in the Seventeenth Century.
STUPIDITY.
You may define Stupidity as a slowness of mind in word or deed. But the Stupid Man is one who, sitting at his counters, and having made all his calculations and worked out his sum, asks one who sits by him how much it comes to. When any one has a suit against him, and he has come to the day when the cause must be decided, he forgets it and walks out into his field. Often also when he sits to see a play, the rest go out and he is left, fallen asleep in the theatre. The same man, having eaten too much, will go out in the night to relieve himself, and fall over the neighbour's dog, who bites him. The same man, having hidden away what
he has received, is always searching for it, and never finds it. And when it is announced to him that one of his intimate friends is dead, and he is asked to the funeral, then, with a face set to sadness and tears, he says, "Good luck to it!" When he receives money owing to him he calls in witnesses, and in midwinter he scolds his man for not having gathered cucumbers. To train his boys for wrestling he makes them race till they are tired. Cooking his own lentils in the field, he throws salt twice into the pot and makes them uneatable. When it rains he says, "How sweet I find this water of the stars." And when some one asks, "How many have passed the gates of death?" [proverbial phrase for a great number] answers, "As many, I hope, as will be enough for you and me."
The first and the best sequence of "Characters" in English Literature is the series of sketches of the Pilgrims in the Prologue to Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" The Characters are so varied as to unite in representing the whole character of English life in Chaucer's day; and they are, written upon one plan, each with suggestion of the outward body and its dress as well as of the mind within. But Chaucer owed nothing to Theophrastus. In his Character Writing he drew all from nature with his own good wit. La Bruyère in France translated the characters of Theophrastus, and his own writing of Characters in the seventeenth century followed a fashion that had its origin in admiration of the wit of those Greek Ethical Characters. La Bruyère was born in 1639 and died in 1696. Our Joseph Hall, whose "Characters of Vices and Virtues" were written in 1608, and translated into French twenty years before La Bruyère was born, said, in his Preface to them, "I have done as I could, following that ancient Master of Morality who thought this the fittest task for the ninety-ninth year of his age, and the profitablest Monument that he could leave for a farewell to his Grecians."
There was some aim at short and witty sketches of character in descriptions of the ingenuity of horse-coursers and coney-catchers who used quick wit for beguiling the unwary in those bright days of Elizabeth, when the very tailors and cooks worked fantasies in silk and velvet, sugar and paste. Thomas Harman, whose grandfather had been Clerk of the Crown under Henry VII., and who himself inherited estates in Kent, became greatly interested in the vagrant beggars who came to his door. He made a study of them, came to London to publish his book, and lo dged at Whitefriars, within the Cloister, for convenience of nearness to them, and more thorough knowledge of their ways. He first published his book in 1567 as A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors, vulgarly called Vagabonds--"A Caveat or Warening for common cursetors, Vulgarely called Vagabones, set forth by Thomas Harman, Esquiere, for the utilite and proffyt of his naturall Cuntrey" and he dedicated it to Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury. It contained twenty-four character sketches, gave the names of the chief tramps then living in England, and a vocabulary of their cant words. This is Harman's first character:--
A RUFFLER.
The Ruffler, because he is first in degree of this odious order, and is so called in a statute made for the punishment of Vagabonds in the twenty-seventh year of King Henry VIII, late of most famous memory, he shall be first placed as the worthiest of this unruly rabblement. And he is so called when he goeth first abroad. Either he hath served in the wars, or else he hath been a serving-man, and weary of well-doing, shaking off all pain, doth choose him this idle life; and wretchedly wanders about the most shires of this realm, and with stout audacity demandeth, where he thinketh he may be bold, and circumspect enough where he seeth cause, to ask charity ruefully and lamentably, that it would make a flinty heart to relent and pity his miserable estate, how he hath been maimed and bruised in the wars. Peradventure one will show you some outward wound which he got at some drunken fray, either halting of some privy wound festered with a filthy fiery flankard [brand]. For be well assured that the hardiest soldiers be either slain or maimed, either and [or if] they escape all hazards and return home again, if they be without relief of their friends they will surely desperately rob and steal, and either shortly be hanged or miserably die in prison. For they be so much ashamed and disdain to beg or ask charity, that rather they will as desperately fight for to live and